User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
The book starts out with quirky, delightful characters. 68-year-old Astrid witnesses the accidental death of an acquaintance, decides life is short, and it's time to right wrongs. It’s time to reveal her secrets to her adult children. The children, of course, all have problems and secrets of their own. Who doesn’t?
The writing is engaging with wonderful nuggets of wisdom, which I found myself frequently highlighting. I love the theme that everyone is stumbling through life trying to get along as best we can, sometimes getting it right, sometimes getting it wrong. We are all worthy of forgiveness, acceptance and love.
Unfortunately, the author has a kitchen sink approach to the story and throws in every single hot button social issue she can think of: abuse, bullying, online pedophilia, lesbianism, gender identity, bisexuality, transgender, adultery, artificial insemination, etc, etc. The result is none are treated with the depth they deserved, and the message is diluted.
After a while, boredom set in, as the story meanders along with no plot. I love a character-driven, multi-generational tale with complicated familial relationships, but the characters quickly became caricatures and the story began to feel like a farcical fairy tale.
This was good writing and there was a potential lovely message that got lost among the sheer number of issues addressed, with nothing to drive the plot forward. I struggled to finish and should have followed my instincts to DNF. This was a buddy read with my friend Marialyce, and it was one neither of us much enjoyed.
* I received a free digital copy of the book via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review
* Publication date 5/5/202 by Riverhead Books
Rating: really liked it
It seems that many authors believe in the more is better philosophy in writing books these days. They cram every bit of what's in vogue into their stories and oftentimes all these topics overwhelm the book. Such was the case with this book.
While I did enjoy the first half of the story, the second half seemed to be belabored with paragraphs that went on and on, and repetition that bogged down the telling. There was really no plot at all, just a plethora of people experiencing a lot of angst.
All of the topics from transsexual, gay, bisexual, bullying, artificial insemination, unfaithfulness, etc are important topics. To place them all in one book seemed to give each topic less of the attention it deserved.
Some of the characters were woefully underdeveloped and perhaps, this too was a result of too much being presented in the story.
I understand, I think, what the author was trying to do, but at times I thought perhaps this was a satire, or a fairy tale, or reality on some other plain.
This was a hard book to read and slowly the joy of the beginning turned into Boredom and a firm wish for this story to be over.
Thank you to the author, the publisher, and Edelweiss for an advanced copy of this book.
Neither Jan nor I walked away with a good feeling about this story, sad to say.
Rating: really liked it
My brain cells sending me “S.O.S.” messages because in the short time I haven’t read something literally throwing so many social, political, emotional, sexual issues at my face! I wanted to dunk my head into ice bucket to get the burning sensation out!
Okay: I’m confused because I truly read something really well-written but my grey cells endured so much pain and exhaustion because the characters have to deal with so many important traumatizing problems at the same time and I couldn’t decide if I get really sad for them or write a letter to the author to be nice of them.
The facts: I loved the quirky, adorable characters from different ages, suffering from different issues and I love the development of family dynamics. The author is so talented and her writing style picked my interest and truly understood the characters’ motives. Of course life is too short to live with secrets and too much burden: this is the important message of the book!
But the other important fact about its story: The author was like a famous chef who decided to cook a special meal with multi ingredients: She throw inside the pot: abuse, bullying, bisexualism, adultery, pedophilia, lesbianism, transgender identity, abortion, vetro-fertilization, dysfunctional parenting and cooked them in very high heat: even though those ingredients needed to be slowly stirred and blended with each other.
Maybe with the lesser issues and characters, this book could be a five starred read for me: But as you can see there are so many materials enough for more than three books and there are so many well-crafted characters who deserve their own books separately. I wish I may read more details about their stories and the way they’re dealing with their secrets.
Overall: My hearts tells me I shouldn’t give this book less than four stars because I really loved those characters. Especially Astrid and 13 years old Cecilia were my favorites. But my mind rejects my decision because the book really exhausted the hell of it ( or her- what proper way to call your mind?). So I’m giving my three solid stars. I still liked most of the characters’ stories but I wish the problematic issue bombardment gave me headaches so I keep my happy hour a little longer to cool down and watch some silly animal videos on youtube to lower my heart rate.
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Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars.
All aboard the Strick family dysfunction train!
When Astrid Strick witnesses a long-time nemesis get hit by a bus, it suddenly makes her realize two things: life is too short, so she needs to act on things before it’s too late, and perhaps equally important, she might not have been the best mother to her three children.
As she strives to make things better with her children, she also makes a major decision in her own life which further destabilizes her relationship with her oldest son, Elliott, a developer and builder, who nurses a long-held grudge and feels the need to prove himself to the town and his mother.
Meanwhile, Astrid’s daughter Porter is pregnant and yet can’t seem to give up her boyfriend from when she was a teenager, and Astrid’s youngest son, Nicky, who was an actor as a teenager and never quite gave up that lifestyle, has sent his teenage daughter to live with Astrid after an incident at her school.
All Adults Here is an interesting exploration of love, parental responsibility, infidelity, mortality, friendship, sexuality, and even gender. The book shifts narration among a number of characters—Astrid, Elliott, Porter, Nicky, Astrid’s granddaughter, and her friend.
There is a lot going on in this book and while I enjoyed most of the separate storylines, they didn’t seem to coalesce until nearly the end of the book, and no story seemed utterly complete. There was a lot that seemed to go unsaid in many cases, which was frustrating. Obviously that happens in real life, too, but when you're hoping that some loose ends in a story will get tied up, it doesn't quite help.
I really enjoy the way Emma Straub writes, though, and I can’t seem to get enough books about family dysfunction, so I still found this a good, satisfying read.
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2019 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2019.html.
Check out my list of the best books of the decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
Rating: really liked it
I spent years thinking I wouldn't like Emma Straub's books because I've always seen such mixed reviews but I loved this SO MUCH. It's the second book of hers that I've read in the last week and I've given both 5 stars. This one was messy in all the best ways and exactly what I wanted it to be at every turn. I'm officially an Emma Straub stan, wow
CW: IVF, death of a loved one, homophobia, transphobia, grooming, cheating, deadnaming, abortion
Rating: really liked it
Dis book got issues. SO many issues. More issues than you could reasonably expect a 338-page novel to offer. Truly, Straub didn't miss a thing - bullying, paedophilia, lesbianism, gender identity, bisexuality, transgender, abuse, grief, adultery - it's ALL THERE!
But why? Why this need to cover all these hot button topics in such a teeny little book? Perhaps Straub was simply eager to please. Perhaps she just didn't want to leave anybody out. Fair enough. But it's no easy task to cover 714 hot issues in 338 pages, and it showed here. In the end, none of the issues were treated with the depth they deserved, and some - notably the story of a transgender teen (a friend of the granddaughter of the book's protagonist) - were so far removed from the main plot that it's fair to wonder why they were included at all.
Rating: really liked it
Witnessing a fatal bus accident, Astrid Strick experiences an epiphany and decides she will reveal a big secret to her three children, Elliott, Porter, and Nicky — They’re all adults here, but Astrid isn’t the only one with secrets.
All Adults Here is the story of the Strick family, each dealing with their own situations. They aren’t exactly affectionate or communicative with one another. I felt neutral toward most of the characters, not loving or hating them, but not exactly relating or connecting much to them either. There were a lot of topics thrown into this story — Overall, I stayed curious enough to see how things played out.
Rating: really liked it
Like a visit to (an even more unbelievably Utopic, if that’s even possible) Star’s Hollow, with all the family angst and worry and developmentally arrested adults and preternaturally mature teens, BUT without the enjoyable quirky absurdity - and especially without the rapid and witty dialogue.
Similar to a Shakespearean comedy in that it begins with An Event, with ensuing domestic misunderstandings and communication mishaps, and ends in festivities and reunions and tied-up loose ends - only the storytelling journey from beginning to end lacked dramatic tension as well as depth and just wasn’t FUN.
This novel was too light and lacking in character development to be insightful or moving, but neither was it insubstantial enough to serve as a “beach read.” I struggled to find a sweet spot or reading “groove” the whole time, and I never succeeded - I’m not typically a “skimmer,” but found myself inadvertently skimming a lot because I couldn’t connect to the story at times. Usually I can’t wait to get done with work and start reading, but I never really looked forward to getting back to this book, especially once I got past the initially promising beginning, and I found myself progressively bored with it. Even a glass of wine did not help jazz it up for me, guys....
I don’t believe in the concept of “unlikeable” characters per se, but I did not derive enjoyment or insight or much of anything at all from spending so much time with several of the characters (the adult siblings in particular - ugh. I just could not bring myself to care at all!). A few characters were potentially more interesting (Birdie, Cecilia, Robin), but only appeared in glimpses or were tied up in plot threads that appeared rather implausible - e.g. an entire town and family seemingly achieve complete enlightenment instantly and simultaneously. And, I couldn’t ever get a clear picture in my head of the main character Astrid, whose perspective and evolution is largely supposed to drive this whole thing. It’s bad when, you know, there’s this big and juicy matriarch “role,” and you can’t even imagine what revered actress might hypothetically be best suited to play her.
In short - I strongly agree with other reviewers that the book would have been better served by greater attention and detail paid to a smaller subset of its characters and plots. The Astrid/Birdie and Cecilia/Robin stuff in itself would have been plenty of material to flesh out for a whole - and potentially quite fulfilling - novel.
I found this novel perfectly ...fine and adequate, but flaky and unsatisfying - like a leftover-morning apple turnover at 3 PM when you’re really craving a freshly-made chocolate brownie. I tried, I did - I enjoyed the author’s last book well enough, and I really wanted to like it!
Rating: really liked it
This is a very thoughtful book which encompasses many themes which surround the dynamic of family. The novel starts dramatically with Astrid Strick witnessing a death of someone she didn’t especially like but who frequently occupies her thoughts. We then meet the rest of the family in turn, we learn what makes them tick and what their issues are. There’s Elliot married to Wendy with twin whirlwind sons, the middle sibling is Porter who has a goat farm, no man (well.... she does but she shouldn’t ...) and a desire to be pregnant and finally there’s New York based hippy Nicky married to Juliette who is French and a dancer, they have a daughter Cecelia. Astrid lives in Clapham in the Hudson Valley as do the older siblings. When Cecelia isn’t exactly expelled from school but it seems wiser (though not necessarily fair) to send her to live in Clapham with her Gammy for a year.
This is a very enjoyable read with many likeable characters, especially the Strick family and Astrid's more than friend Birdie. Cecelia is an outstanding character, very true, honest and a wonderful friend to August Sullivan. She doesn’t always do the right thing but when she goes wrong it’s for reasons to do with a being caring friend and standing up for people. At times she acts with greater maturity than the adults! I like how the book explores the love of family and it’s dynamics and after a series of events occur this pulls the family closer than they have possibly ever been. They are able to be honest which makes them all feel secure. It also looks at sexuality and at acceptance of who you are with no judgements given. The town of Clapham provides a good backdrop and we see a good cross section of society on display here.
Overall, this is a very sensitive book principally about love and family which I really enjoyed.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for the ARC.
Rating: really liked it
Emma Straub has rapidly become one of my favored authors. She excels in domestic fiction with flawed and quirky characters, all having great intentions, and failing to deliver on those intentions. Straub allows the reader to feel the character makeup of people around you, perhaps people that look hard and crunchy on the outside yet have a soft and melty center. Straub’s characters are real and relatable. In fact, some of those private thoughts milling in your head that you are convinced no one has but you, are fodder for her fiction. Yes, you are not alone.
In “All Adults Here” the protagonist Astrid Strick is a 68-year-old widow who is questioning her parenting style, questioning all her life choices. The event that prompts her self-doubt is witnessing an acquaintance’s death. She sees how fragile life is and that life can suddenly end. This event prompts Astrid to inform her three adult children that she has a secret paramour. Furthermore, it prompts Astrid to try and get to know her children better.
Her eldest, a son, lives in her small town with his wife and twin boys. The twins don’t have a lot of action in the story, but when they do, it’s hilarious. Her middle is an unmarried daughter who she learns is pregnant through IVF. Her youngest, a son, is a married pot-smoking, laid back man who has a cigarette smoking French wife and a middle-school daughter who needs to be moved to a different school system due to dubious behavior. The granddaughter, Cecelia, moves in with Astrid and begins 8th grade. Her new best friend in the school, August, has his own inner dilemmas.
All these characters have secrets which the reader is privy to. We get to read their inner dialogue and their frustrations, with literary prose that make the reader smile and cringe. Astrid alone is fascinating, wondering if she parented correctly, if all her children’s faults and weaknesses fall solely on her shoulders. What mother hasn’t had those contemplations?
What provides Staub with her edge is her consistently bright tone. Some of her subjects she tackles are fraught with angst, but she conquers what could be morose with a sunny literary style that leads the reader to feel that all will end well. And Isn’t that what we hope in our own domestic non-fiction; that in the end, it will all work out.
Rating: really liked it
4.5 rounded up.
This book isn’t for everyone, but for whatever reason it just made me really happy. I read this at the right time and while I’ve seen reviews from friends who mentioned the kitchen sink mentality (they are correct) I still loved it despite this. I’m not an expert on writing a transgender character properly (in terms of pronouns and stereotypes regarding revealing your true self to other people), but I loved this aspect of the story and I’ll leave that criticism to people who are more knowledgeable than me. This is definitely a character driven book with a very dysfunctional family, but that again worked just fine for me.
This is my second attempt at reading a book by this author (first was a DNF, but I was no where near as mature a reader then so I’m glad I gave her another shot). Lastly, I don't believe you will enjoy this as much if you are more conservative minded socially. That's pure speculation on my point, but I feel it's important to mention.
I listened to the first 70% on audio thanks to the Libro.fm ALC program and am very grateful to them along with Penguin audio for the opportunity to listen and provide a review. The narrator was FANTASTIC and captured Astrid PERFECTLY. The last 30% I read on my kindle, courtesy of Riverhead Books and Edelweiss.
Review Date: 05/31/2020
Publication Date: 05/04/2020
Rating: really liked it
2.5 Stars. So disappointed in this book I feel like I could cry..
I was really looking forward to this and was like yeah one of the MCs is a 60 something year old Grandma & one thing about me is I have a major soft spot for Gammy's so I thought 'Yes!! Scoreeeee!!!!!!'
Then I finally got my hands on it and let me reiterate how sorely disappointed I am! 😭
This is the sort of book that tries too hard by wanting to address every social issue under the sun but not really addressing them at all at the same time; Gender identity issues, Online Pedophilia, Unresolved childhood trauma, Bisexuality etcetera etcetera
The author sort of just breezes through all this big issues and the book is filled with alot of mundane nonsense that halfway through it I'm tempted to just DNF..
The characters had real potential especially the grandkids. Cecelia and August. I hope they found happiness wherever they ended up.
Rating: really liked it
emma straub writes compulsively readable books about mostly horrible people trying to redeem themselves. saw another review describe this as a more socially progressive gilmore girls, and that's fairly accurate. this definitely fits in the "dysfunctional family drama" contemporary niche that i love so very much, but i just didn't find this gripping. a lot of the subplots that were supposed to raise the stakes here were just not compelling, or not fleshed out enough to make the stakes high enough. straub casts a wide net, and i wish she had focused on one or two themes or one or two characters instead of trying to give us this holistic perspective. maybe Astrid/Porter/Cecelia, focusing on three generations of women in the family? idk.
all in all, liked this one more than the vacationers, but i'm still left struggling to a) see why everyone was so hype about this when it came out and b) remember why i loooooved her second book, modern lovers, so much.
Rating: really liked it
This book begins with a death and ends with a new life.
The Strick family is falling apart. Siblings are estranged, marriages are broken, and children are sent away. But after a school bus accident kills matriarch Astrid's old acquaintance, she is forced to rethink her views on life and the unrealistic expectations she places on her children.
It's a messy potpourri of pressing social issues that never get the coverage they deserve due to the short length. This was one of those Important Books that English teachers read in their spare time and dissect in casual conversations. But I actually liked it. I especially enjoyed the little wisdom nuggets interspersed throughout. The writing style complemented the dry humor of these characters, and I really did develop a connection with every one of them by the end.
It's a quick read, but it's not forgettable. Despite the almost overwhelming relevance of it all, the characters weren't stepped on by the Important Issues, and the voices of each of them were distinct. It's very light and beachy and easy to get through.
4 stars, enjoyed too much
Rating: really liked it
4 Adulting is Hard Stars
This was my first read by this author, Emma Straub, but I have certainly seen her titles reviewed by fellow Goodreads friends. I rather enjoyed this tale of a mother looking back on raising her (now grown) children since it is almost Mother’s Day.
This one is set in a small town in the Hudson Valley of New York and the main character is Astrid Strick, she’s a widow with three grown children. Two of them still live in town and the youngest lives in NYC. Astrid witnesses an accident and it causes her to rethink much of her parenting style and her place in life.
Life is short so she decides to open up about her choice in a life partner, hello Birdie. She apologizes to her children for a few incidents from their childhoods that she now feels that she handled badly. Was she too hard on her kids? Did she do a good job raising them? Are they good people as adults? What could she do differently? When her granddaughter is sent to live with Astrid, we get a glimpse into junior high life that I found very authentic.
The siblings in this one were damaged and real people, I liked Porter and her two brothers. There is always the dynamic of growing up in a small town. Do you stay there where everything is comfortable, and you know people or is it more of a success to “get out” and move away like youngest child Nicky has done?
As I said, this one was enjoyable to me because it focused on families and a small town. There were some funny moments and it felt like a glimpse into the lives of each of these characters.
Thank you to Edelweiss, Emma Straub, and Riverhead Books for a complimentary copy of this one to read in exchange for an honest review.
